Panel connections of glass fiberoptic cables are often cumbersome and inefficient. An example is a patch panel for a communications network in which a great number of side-by-side fiber cables are connected endwise to the face of the panel. The cables extend outwardly in a group and bend only gradually from the connection to avoid mechanical failure of the glass fibers and signal loss. Routing of fiber cables in restricted spaces, as in an automobiles, presents similar problems.
Fiberoptic device packages are often large and cumbersome due to large radius bends required in glass fibers within the packages.